““Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’” Exodus 6:6-8 NLT
Exodus constantly reminds me of God’s promises and how diligent He is in keeping every single one of them. God’s promises are dependable and durable. Exodus also reminds me of the power of God’s will. God always accomplishes what He sets out to do. Of course it’s most impressive to me because I know I am, we are, LINEAR. We have a beginning, a short middle and an end. We can’t see ahead, and far too often our memories lose clarity as we look back in our history. In our humanness things fade and get foggy!
In these verses I see the strength of God’s words, “I will.” God will free, will redeem, will get them to the promised land and will gift that land to His people. Every single “I will” statements are now “He did!” How all this all plays out with our free choice and our own autonomy is still a mystery. Maybe someday I will understand, but for now I just know God is true, just and right – faithful to be and do exactly what He says.
I can barely grasp the idea of God being atemporal (outside of time), which allows Him to be omniscient (all knowing). I tend to think of it as God being able to look back from eternity and see backwards. But that’s not how it really works. God sees everything NOW. Everything is eternally PRESENT to God. God perceives all moments at once, unlike us who experience time sequentially.
Right after these profound messages God delivers to Moses, a very sad moment takes place. “So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery,” Exodus 6:9. Again, my perception was that the people were just stubborn – like most of us! But Moses records a very real fact that influences all of us, even today. They had become “too discouraged!” Oh. That hits home.
The brutality of slavery, over too many years, had stolen their hope, had broken their spirits. The men, women and children living this story would be the ones to eventually experience freedom from Egypt, but the oldest among them could never really believe it. The old people would die in the desert BEFORE God’s promise and His will would be fulfilled! They were literally free, but still died as slaves in their hearts and minds. The brutality of their experiences in their past had permanently handicapped their ability to live free in the future! Even with all of God’s power to keep His promise and His will to accomplish what He determined, they could not find freedom.
There are countless people I Pastor that are determined to allow their past to dictate their future. Because of deep and profound trauma, or unfathomable pain people have experienced in their past, we still feel victimized, hurt and even ashamed – we just can’t let it go! It handicaps us, locking us in a prison of the past. God says, “I will,” but our experiences say, “I can’t” – at least not in my life. God can free us from our oppression (past pain inflicted on us). God can rescue us from the brutality of slavery (subjected to power not of our own doing). But we must listen and let it go. Give it to our Savior! Let God accomplish His good will in you and through you. Because God really is good ALL THE TIME.
Prayer
Dad,
The decision to let go of my past, my pain, and my sin, has not been a single decision. Instead, it has been a process throughout my life, since I said yes to you. When I am haunted or humiliated by my past, I have to choose to listen to you and not the lies the enemy relishes to remind me of. I determine to listen and say “YES” as often as I can. Your words are life to me. Your will is freedom for me. I am forever grateful that you called my name and adopted me as your son!